Lawrence Block News Update 17th March 2000
I know, I know. I had every intention of getting this letter out to you on Groundhog Day, and what happened? I saw my shadow and went back inside for six more weeks of sloth, culminating in a trip to Chile and Easter Island, with a quick hop over the Andes into Bolivia. We’re back, and there’s much to tell you.
First off, I’m delighted to report that I’ve completed Hit List, a second book about Keller, the urban lonely guy of assassins. When I started planning a sequel to Hit Man, I was concerned that what had worked once might not work a second time. The early word’s good; you can judge for yourselves when William Morrow publishes it in October. It’s episodic, but more a novel and less a collection of stories than Hit Man. For a preview, the British art magazine Modern Painters will offer a lengthy excerpt, “Keller’s Art,” in an issue this spring.
Orion, who will be publishing Hit List this fall in the UK, recently brought out my Collected Mystery Stories, a gorgeous volume running to 750 pages and containing 72 stories, ten of them new in book form. They’ll be distributing the trade paperback edition in the States shortly. There may eventually be a US edition, but not for at least a year. If you want a reading copy, the Orion pb should be easy to obtain, through mystery specialty bookshops or other booksellers, on- or off-line. If you want the hardcover first edition, that’s more of a challenge. A few US and UK mystery booksellers may have it, but the price has been climbing sharply and copies are scarce. Look around, and if all else fails, you can order it from me. Read on, and I’ll tell you how.
May will see publication of Signet’s paperback edition of The Burglar In The Rye, the book in aid of which I drove all over the country this past summer. I set up 64 signings and managed to get to all but Savannah and Charleston, where a windy chap named Floyd blew in to cancel my bookings. Lynne joined me for the tail end of the tour, and we drove all over trying to get out of Floyd’s way. Our only real hardship was having to spend the night in the car in a supermarket parking lot in Union, South Carolina. I got to meet a lot of you during the tour (although I can’t say I spotted a single familiar face in that parking lot) and enjoyed the whole business more than a man should admit. I may never tour like that again, but it was fun while it lasted.
Back in print this month is Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man, an erotic comedy from Subterranean Press. A handsome trade paperback with a Phil Parks cover, the book sells for $16. If your bookseller doesn’t have it, try the publisher at 810.232.1489 or Ronald Rabbit is a Dirty Old Man...(www.subterraneanpress.com). And Random Walk, out of print since 1988, is now available as a pilot title in Authors Guild’s print-on-demand program. Obtainable through most chain and independent bookstores, or visit www.Backinprint.com to order it directly.
I hope you’ve had a chance to look at my new anthology, Master's Choice. Berkley found the reception so heartening that they’ll bring out a new volume, Master's Choice 2, in the fall. The participating authors had to pick two stories apiece, a favorite they’ve written and a favorite they’ve read. (I chose one by John O’Hara, whose work never turns up in crime collections. Hell of a story, too.) Also due this fall from Cumberland House, the Tennessee firm that did such a beautiful job with Death Cruise, is Opening Shots, featuring the very first crime stories of such writers as Sara Paretsky, David Morrell, Loren Estleman, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Margaret Maron, Peter Lovesey, and a dozen others, along with a few words from each on the circumstances of that first sale. The project went so smoothly and has turned out so well that I wouldn’t be surprised if it too winds up the first of a series. (As I observed in the Master's Choice intro, there’s no limit to the number of books I can turn out, as long as I don’t have to sit down and write them...)
If you’ve been on the e-list for a few months, you already know that we’ve gone into the retail book trade. (That’s neither the royal nor the editorial we, incidentally; more the commercial we, and refers to the author and his faithful companion, Lynne.) Specifically, we’re making available copies of some out-of-print titles I find myself willing to part with. We took a giant step recently and set things up so that we can accept payment by credit card, which will not only make it possible for us to fill overseas orders but will facilitate your ordering from us by fax or e-mail. (Eventually you’ll be able to order on-line at our interactive web site, which is currently under construction. So, to be sure, is Gaudi’s Cathedral of the Holy Family in Barcelona, and I suspect the two have the same completion date, but you can check in from time to time and see if we’re getting anywhere---www.lawrenceblock.com.) The selection is slightly different from the November 99 E-letter, and there are some slight changes in prices and mailing charges:

• The Specialists. Originally published as a Gold Medal pb in 1969, this book was very deliberately designed to be the first in an action-adventure series. The heroes are five former Green Berets who pull military-style capers in aid of Truth, Justice, and the American Way. I wrote the one book and found out that, though this is a kind of book I like to read, it wasn’t one I liked to write. So I pulled the plug on the enterprise, much to the surprise of my agent, who kept saying he thought this was going to be the first of a series. (I finally told him I didn't see any reason why he and I couldn't think of it as a one-book series. I don't know that that made him happy, but it kept him quiet.)
  The book had a couple of paperback editions, but never appeared in hardcover in the US until 1996, when James Cahill brought it out with art by Phil Parks, along with a new afterword. He had distribution problems, however, and wound up paying me off in copies. I thought I'd own the little darlings forever, but they got such a warm reception on tour that I sold out all I had and wound up buying the publisher’s entire remaining stock.
  The books are in mint condition. The original retail price is $25, and I’ve seen the book on E-bay for twice that, but we're able to offer them for $20. And for that price you're not merely getting an autographed copy of a hardcover first edition---you're getting a complete series!
• Tanner On Ice. This book, the eighth Evan Tanner novel (and the first in 28 years), is now out in paperback from Signet. Thus, in the way of contemporary publishing, the Dutton hardcover edition is off-sale and out of print. Ours are first editions, and our price for signed copies is $25.
• Ariel. Set in Charleston, South Carolina, this novel about a spooky adopted child was first published in 1980 by Arbor House. In 1996, G&G Books brought out a limited edition under the imprint of The Lawrence Block Library. The total press run ran to 500 signed and numbered copies, 26 lettered copies, and a dozen A/P author's copies. While it's not the first hardcover edition (the Arbor House book was hardcover) it's nicely printed and bound, and includes an author's afterword written especially for this edition. And, obviously, there aren't too many of them around. I have a fairly good supply of signed and numbered copies at $50.
• In the Midst of Death. This is the third title in the Matthew Scudder series. Like the first two, it was originally published as a Dell paperback in 1976. In the early 90's, Dark Harvest published hardcover first editions of The Sins of the Fathers and Time to Murder and Create, but went belly-up before they could do the same for In the Midst of Death. In 1995, G&G did the honors, again under the Lawrence Block Library imprint. (This book, and Ariel, constitute the entire Lawrence Block Library. Make of that what you will.) As with Ariel, the book's nicely produced and the edition is small---500 signed and numbered, 26 lettered, and a few A/P copies---but in this case the book is the first US hardcover edition. Only a few of these left; they’re one to a customer, and while they last, they're $100.
• The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian. The fifth Bernie Rhodenbarr mystery. The Signet paperback is in stores now, and Dutton’s hardcover reissue should still be available through booksellers. But what we've got for sale is the true first edition, the hardcover book published by Arbor House in 1983. These are new copies, bought up when the book was remaindered in 1985 and warehoused ever since. I've seen much higher prices on this title, but I have a good stock and am pricing the book for the time being at $80.
• Telling Lies For Fun & Profit. The most popular of my writing books, published by Arbor House in 1981. The book's still in print in a $12 trade paperback edition from Morrow Quill, with a new introduction by Sue Grafton, and that's the one to buy if you need a reading copy. But if what you want is the hardcover first edition, well, this is it. I think it's a genuinely scarce book---I rarely see it on dealers' lists, and hardly ever at signings---but I have a pretty good supply, and can offer signed firsts at $60.
• A Long Line of Dead Men. The twelfth Matthew Scudder novel, published by Morrow in 1994. These are nice new first edition copies, signed, and our price is $30.
• The Collected Mystery Stories. The Orion hardcover first edition mentioned above. Most of the small printing went to libraries. I don’t have many copies, and have priced them accordingly. Look around---you may be able to get the book cheaper elsewhere. If not, my price is $70, and only one to a customer.
• LB Bibliography. Small-press wizard James Seels brought out a bibliography of my work in 1993. Along with a listing of my books and stories with the requisite bibliographical data, there are essays by Charles Ardai, Wendy Hornsby, and Philip Friedman, plus a reprinted story of mine and an essay I wrote for the occasion The format is trade paperback, but that doesn't entirely tell the tale; the paper stock is very substantial and the production is all one has come to expect from Seels. All the contributors, plus cover artist Phil Parks, have signed in gold. Only 420 printed, but my compensation was partly in copies, and I thus have a few more than I need. $100, one to a customer.
• The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep and The Canceled Czech. Hardcover first editions of the first two Tanner novels, published in 1993 and 1994 by Otto Penzler under his Armchair Detective imprint. I bought up the overstock and have by this time sold off most of them. As the quantity on hand shrinks, the price inches up. $40 apiece, and no more than one of each to a customer.